The below is of interest because it contains the list of file formats AltaVista Discovery Version 1.1 considers worth searching within for "words". -FNC ALTAVISTA DISCOVERY Version 1.1 Release Notes March 8, 1999 Table of Contents 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 New Features in AltaVista Discovery Version 1.1 1.2 Getting Started 1.3 Registration 2. SUPPORTED ENVIRONMENTS AND APPLICATIONS 2.1 Minimum Configuration 2.2 Supported Platforms 2.3 Prerequisite Software 2.4 Supported Languages 2.5 Supported Data Types 3. INSTALLATION PROCEDURES 3.1 How to Install from CD 3.2 How to Install from Internet Download 3.3 How to Create an Index 3.4 How to Manually configure the browser 3.5 How to Install QuickView Viewers 3.6 How to Install to a Windows NT account without Administrator privileges 3.7 Auto Proxy Browser option not supported 4. DEINSTALLATION PROCEDURES 5. CONTACTING TECHNICAL SUPPORT 5.1 How to contact Technical Support 5.2 What Information to Provide 6. UNSUPPORTED FEATURES 6.1 Searching Pegasus Mail folders 7. KNOWN PROBLEMS 7.1 Installation 7.2 Indexing 7.3 AltaVista Discovery Toolbar 7.4 Searching 7.5 Automatic Update to new Versions 7.6 Internet Explorer 5 Beta won't install when Discovery is running 7.7 The Hyperbolic Tree End Table of Contents 1. INTRODUCTION AltaVista Discovery brings the power of Compaq's AltaVista Internet Service to your own personal files. It allows you to quickly find files and mail messages anywhere on your PC's local disks, and on any shared network disk to which you are currently connected. From the same user interface it allows you to perform searches of the Internet using Compaq's AltaVista Internet Service. You can also quickly search and explore information from your favorite Web sites, using AltaVista Discovery's built-in Web Site Indexer. This document describes how to install the product, lists known problems, and explains how to contact AltaVista Technical Support if you have problems. 1.1 New Features in AltaVista Discovery Version 1.1 AltaVista Discovery Version 1.1 extends the functionality of indexing and searching your hard drive to indexing and searching your favorite Web sites. By simply adding your favorite Web sites to the built-in Web Site Indexer you can index them as often as you specify, and search for up-to- date results in the same way that you can search your local hard drives or Compaq's AltaVista Internet Service. You can also explore your favorite Web sites using a site map created by the Web Site Indexer. Using a built-in Web Site Navigator (created using Inxight Software's Hyperbolic Tree (TM) for Java), you can see which pages are new, modified and deleted since the previous index, and can view the pages in your browser by clicking on the map. 1.2 Getting Started To use AltaVista Discovery do the following: 1. Check Sections 2.1, 2.2, and 2.3 below to ensure that your PC is running a supported configuration. 2. Install the product as described in Section 3. You can now perform searches of the Internet, but before you can search for files and mail messages on your PC's disks, or search on your favorite Web sites, you must wait for an index of your files to be built. A program to build an index of your files is started by the installation procedure. When the index is ready, a message will be displayed, after which you can enter queries to search for your files. 1.3 Registration By registering your copy of AltaVista Discovery, you will become eligible to receive technical support and product updates. AltaVista's goal in collecting registration information for AltaVista Discovery is to provide you, the user, with the most effective search experience possible and to provide us with an efficient means to reach the right audience. By knowing a little about you, AltaVista is able to deliver more relevant content, improved performance and better service to you, our customer. AltaVista will not disclose any of your registration information, except to protect the rights or property of AltaVista. The registration form asks some questions about occupation and type of computer used. These questions are purely for market research purposes: individual replies are used for the sole purpose of compiling statistical aggregates. There is, of course, no obligation on your part to provide this information, but we would appreciate your assistance. Thank you! 2. SUPPORTED ENVIRONMENTS AND APPLICATIONS 2.1 Minimum Configuration To run AltaVista Discovery you must have, at a minimum: o 66MHz 486 processor (100MHz recommended) o 16MB of memory (24MB recommended) o The installation process checks that there is at least 48MB of spare disk space before continuing. 20MB disk space is required for the application files, plus additional space for index and site information. The size of the index and site information is dependent on the size and type of data to be indexed/searched. A typical index would require at least 30MB disk space. The site information which allows us to display the site tree could require another 30MB. This information is roughly proportional to the size of the sites indexed. 2.2 Supported Platforms AltaVista Discovery is supported on: o Windows 95 o Windows 98 o Windows NT V4.0 (Intel) Customers using NT 4.0 and Internet Explorer require NT Service Pack 3 or 4 to be installed. 2.3 Prerequisite Software One of the following web browsers must be present in order for the product to work: o Netscape V3 o Netscape V4 o Microsoft Internet Explorer V3.02 o Microsoft Internet Explorer V4 o Microsoft Internet Explorer V5 The Windows95 TCP/IP protocol (included in Windows95) must be installed and configured. Third party TCP/IP implementations are not supported. QuickView Plus from Inso Corporation is desirable but not essential. 2.4 Supported Languages AltaVista Discovery is only available with an English user interface, however, it can index any file that uses CP1252 Windows Latin 1 (ANSI). 2.5 Supported Data Types AltaVista Discovery supports indexing/searching of: o mail messages stored by the following mail programs: - Microsoft Exchange V4.0 - Eudora Pro V2.1 - Eudora Pro V2.2 - Eudora Pro V3.0 - Eudora Pro V4.0 (POP mailboxes only) - Eudora Lite V1.5 - Microsoft Internet Explorer Internet Mail V3.0 - Microsoft Outlook Express Mail - Microsoft Outlook Mail - Netscape Mail V3.0 - Netscape Mail V4.0 (POP mailboxes only) Note: If you're using Microsoft Internet Mail, or Microsoft Outlook Express, select Internet Mail in the Documents and Mail tab. If you're using Microsoft Exchange Mail, or Microsoft Outlook, select Exchange Mail in the Documents and Mail tab. o the following file types: Word Processing: Generic ASCII Text (7 & 8 bit versions available) All versions ANSI Text (7 & 8 bit) All versions Unicode Text All versions HTML Versions through 3.0 IBM Revisable Form Text All versions IBM FFT All versions Microsoft Rich Text Format Versions through 2.0 DOS DEC WPS Plus Versions through 4.1 DEC WPS Plus (DX) Versions through 4.1 DisplayWrite 2 & 3 (TXT) All versions DisplayWrite 4 & 5 Versions through Release 2.0 Enable Versions 3.0, 4.0 and 4.5 First Choice Versions through 3.0 Framework Version 3.0 IBM Writing Assistant Version 1.01 Manuscript Versions through 2.0 MASS11 Versions through 8.0 Microsoft Word Versions through 6.0 Microsoft Works Versions through 2.0 MultiMate Versions through 4.0 Navy DIF All versions Nota Bene Version 3.0 Office Writer Version 4.0 to 6.0 PC-File Letter Versions through 5.0 PC-File+ Letter Versions through 3.0 PFS:Write Versions A, B, and C Professional Write Versions through 2.1 Q&A Version 2.0 Samna Word Versions through Samna Word IV+ SmartWare II Version 1.02 Sprint Versions through 1.0 Total Word Version 1.2 Volkswriter 3 & 4 Versions through 1.0 Wang PC (IWP) Versions through 2.6 WordMARC Versions through Composer Plus WordPerfect Versions through 7.0 WordStar Versions through 7.0 WordStar 2000 Versions through 3.0 XyWrite Versions through III Plus Windows Adobe Acrobat All Versions AMI/AMI Professional Versions through 3.1 JustWrite Versions through 3.0 Microsoft Windows Works Versions through 4.0 Microsoft Windows Write Versions through 3.0 Microsoft Word 97 V7.0 Microsoft Word for Windows Versions through 7.0 Microsoft WordPad All versions Novell Perfect Works Version 2.0 WordPerfect for Windows Versions through 7.0 Professional Write Plus Version 1.0 Legacy Versions through 1.1 Q&A Write for Windows Version 3.0 WordStar for Windows Version 1.0 Macintosh Microsoft Word Versions 4.0 through 6.0 WordPerfect Versions 1.02 through 3.0 Microsoft Works (Mac) Versions through 2.0 MacWrite II Version 1.1 Spreadsheets Formats: Enable Versions 3.0, 4.0 and 4.5 First Choice Versions through 3.0 Framework Version 3.0 Lotus 1-2-3 (DOS & Windows) Versions through 6.x Lotus 1-2-3 Charts (DOS & Windows) Versions through 5.0 Lotus 1-2-3 (OS/2) Versions through 2.0 Lotus 1-2-3 Charts (OS/2) Versions through 2.0 Lotus Symphony Versions 1.0,1.1 and 2.0 Microsoft Excel 97 Microsoft Excel Windows Versions 2.2 through 7.0 Microsoft Excel Macintosh Versions 3.0 - 4.0 Microsoft Excel Charts Versions 2.x - 7.0 Microsoft Multiplan Version 4.0 Microsoft Windows Works Versions through 4.0 Microsoft Works (DOS) Versions through 2.0 Microsoft Works (Mac) Versions through 2.0 Mosaic Twin Version 2.5 Novell Perfect Works Version 2.0 QuattroPro for DOS Versions through 5.0 QuattroPro for Windows Versions through 7.0 PFS:Professional Plan Version 1.0 SuperCalc 5 Version 4.0 SmartWare II Version 1.02 VP Planner 3D Version 1.0 Databases Formats: Access Versions through 2.0 dBASE Versions through 5.0 DataEase Version 4.x dBXL Version 1.3 Enable Versions 3.0, 4.0 and 4.5 First Choice Versions through 3.0 FoxBase Version 2.1 Framework Version 3.0 Microsoft Windows Works Versions through 4.0 Microsoft Works (DOS) Versions through 2.0 Microsoft Works (Mac) Versions through 2.0 Paradox (DOS) Versions through 4.0 Paradox (Windows) Versions through 1.0 Personal R:BASE Version 1.0 R:BASE Versions through 3.1 R:BASE System V Version 1.0 Reflex Version 2.0 Q & A Versions through 2.0 SmartWare II Version 1.02 Standard Graphic Formats: Binary Group 3 Fax All versions BMP (including RLE, ICO, CUR & OS/2 DIB) Windows CDR - Corel Draw Versions through 7.0 CGM - Computer Graphics Metafile ANSI, CALS, NIST, Version 3.0 CMX - Corel Clip Art Format n/a DCX (multi-page PCX) Microsoft Fax DRW - Micrografx Designer Version 3.1 DXF (Binary and ASCII) AutoCAD Drawing Interchange Format Versions through 13 EPS Encapsulated PostScript If TIFF image is embedded in it FMV - FrameMaker Vector and raster format GDF - IBM Graphics Data Format n/a GEM - Graphics Environment Manager Metafile Bitmap and Vector GIF - Graphics Interchange Format Compuserve GP4 - Group 4 CALS Format n/a HPGL - Hewlett Packard Graphics Language Version 2.0 IMG - GEM Paint n/a JPEG All versions MAC MacPaint MET - OS/2 PM Metafile Version 3.0 PCD - Kodak Photo CD n/a PCX PC Paintbrush Perfect Works (Draw) Novell version 2.0 PIC Lotus PICT1 & PICT2 (Raster) Macintosh Standard PIF - IBM Picture Exchange Format n/a PNG - Portable Network Graphics Internet Format Non-LZW PNTG MacPaint RND - AutoShade Rendering File Format n/a SDW Ami Draw Snapshot (Lotus) All versions SRS - Sun Raster File Format n/a TGA (TARGA) Truevision TIFF Versions through 6 TIFF CCITT Group 3 & 4 Fax Systems WMF Windows Metafile WordPerfect Graphics [WPG and WPG2] Versions through 2.0 XBM - X-Windows Bitmap n/a XPM - X-Windows Pixmap n/a XWD - X-Windows Dump n/a High-End Graphics Formats: AI - Adobe Illustrator File Format Versions through 6.0 DSF - Micrografx Designer Windows 95, Version 6.0 DWG - AutoCAD Native Drawing Format Versions 12 & 13 IGES - Initial Graphics Exchange Specification Version 5.1 PDF - Portable Document Format Acrobat version 2.1 (LZW), 3.0 PS - Postscript Level 2 (LZW) Presentation Formats: Corel Presentations Version 7.0 Harvard Graphics for DOS Versions 2.x & 3.x Freelance 96 for Windows 95 n/a Freelance for Windows Version 1.0 and 2.0 Freelance for OS/2 Versions through 2.0 Microsoft PowerPoint 97 n/a Microsoft PowerPoint for Windows Versions through 7.0 Microsoft PowerPoint for Macintosh Version 4.0 Compressed and Encoded Formats: LZH Compress n/a LZA Self Extracting Compress n/a Microsoft Binder Version 7.0 MIME (text mail) n/a UUE n/a UNIX Compress n/a UNIX TAR n/a ZIP PKWARE versions through 2.04g Other: Executable (EXE, DLL) n/a Executable for Windows NT n/a 3. INSTALLATION PROCEDURES NOTE: If you have previously installed the AltaVista Personal Search product you must uninstall that product before installing AltaVista Discovery. To uninstall, use the "Add/Remove Programs" option in the Windows Control Panel. 3.1 How to Install from CD To install from CD-ROM: 1. Insert AltaVista Discovery CD into your CDROM drive. 2. In Windows Explorer click the left mouse button on the drive letter corresponding to your CD-ROM drive (eg. D:). 3. Double click the left mouse button on the SETUP application in the directory list of the CD-ROM. 4. Follow the instructions. 3.2 How to Install from Internet Download To download and install the self-extracting archive: 1. Follow the instructions in the download web page. 2. Save the file setup.exe into a directory on a local disk. 3. Remain connected to the Internet, and use Windows Explorer to find the setup.exe file where you saved it on your hard drive. 4. Double click the left mouse button on the setup.exe application in the directory list to start the installation process. 5. Follow the instructions. 3.3 How to Create an Index Before you can search for files and mail messages on your PC's disks, an index of your PC's disks must be created. The installation procedure will automatically start the indexer, but you will not be able to perform searches until the indexer has finished. To monitor the progress of the indexer, invoke the Index Management... menu item, by right-clicking on the Discovery icon in the Windows system tray. This displays the AltaVista Discovery Indexer dialog box, which shows the progress of the indexer. 3.4 How to Manually configure the browser If you use a proxy server to access the Internet then you may need to change your browser configuration in order for it to work correctly with Discovery. This will be evident if after you've indexed your local files, searches for documents on your PC are failing due to connection problems. If you encounter this problem and you're using a web browser that is supported by Discovery (see Section 2.3), then you will need to manually configure your browser to work with Discovery. You should add the following entry to the "No Proxy" list in your browser: 127.0.0.1 If you do not use a proxy server to access the Internet then no changes to your browser configuration are required. 3.5 How to Install QuickView Viewers AltaVista Discovery supports the previewing of documents using Inso Corporation's QuickView and QuickView Plus products. These are NOT supplied with AltaVista Discovery. There are two ways of obtaining these viewing products: 1. Purchase QuickView Plus from Inso Corporation. More information is available from http://www.inso.com/ 2. Use the basic QuickView product that is included as an optional feature in Windows. To install the basic QuickView product do the following: a. Go into the Windows Control Panel b. Double click on "Add/Remove Programs" c. Click on the "Windows Setup" tab d. Click on the "Accessories" item in the components list e. Click on the "Details..." button f. Scroll through the list of components until you find "Quick View" g. Click on the tick box beside Quick View to select it h. Click on OK in each window. 3.6 How to Install to a Windows NT account without Administrator privileges The current installation procedure will not allow you to install Discovery on Windows NT unless you have Administrator privileges. In order to use Discovery, you must install it using the Administrator account. Once you have done this, and while still logged into the Administrator account, execute the following steps to add Discovery to your Start menu: 1. Using Windows NT Explorer, copy the AltaVista Discovery shortcut from C\WinNT\Profiles\\Start Menu\Programs\Startup to C\WinNT\Profiles\\Start Menu\Programs\Startup. 2. Using Windows NT Explorer, copy the folder C\WinNT\Profiles\\Start Menu\Programs\AltaVista Discovery to C\WinNT\Profiles\\Start Menu\Programs\. 3. You can now log off the Administrator account and log in using your account. Discovery will start automatically when you log in. For steps 1 and 2, is replaced by the name of the Administrator account that was used to install Discovery, and is replaced by the name of your account. Replace C with the drive that contains \WinNT. If you install Discovery without Administrator privileges, you may find that Discovery will request that you reboot the system. Upon rebooting, it will again request that you reboot. This is due to a problem installing into a user account without Administrator privileges. Uninstall Discovery by selecting Remove AltaVista Discovery from the AltaVista group in the Start menu. 3.7 Auto Proxy Browser option not supported The Auto Proxy browser option is not supported. PAC files are used by Netscape Navigator and internet Explorer to automatically configure proxy information. A PAC file is a proxy configuration file set up by your system administrator. It is possible to manually configure your system to work with .PAC files. Manually Configuring to Performing Local Searches ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To do this, add the following as the FIRST lines in the function FindProxyForURL in the .pac file if ( host == "127.0.0.1" ) { return "DIRECT"; } Manually Configuring to Performing Internet Searches ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To allow AltaVista Discovery to access the Internet you will need to know the name and port number of the HTTP proxy server that is to be used to access http//www.altavista.com. You can get this information from your system adminstrator. To modify your AltaVista Discovery configuration do the following 1. From the AltaVista Discovery toolbar, select Options... from the AltaVista icon dropdown menu. 2. In the "Connection" section, select "Manual proxy configuration" 3. In the "Proxy information specified by user" section, enter the name and port number of the HTTP proxy server. 4. Click on the "OK" button. AltaVista Discovery should now work correctly. 4. DEINSTALLATION PROCEDURES You can uninstall the product in one of two ways: 1. Using the "Add/Remove Program" option in the Windows Control Panel. 2. By clicking on the "Remove AltaVista Discovery" item in the AltaVista Discovery program group. If you have installed Discovery on Windows NT, you should first log into the Administrator account and then proceed to uninstall it. You should also remove the shortcut from the Start Menu and the Startup folders that you had created in section 3.6 "How to Install to a Windows NT account without Administrator privileges". 5. CONTACTING TECHNICAL SUPPORT 5.1 How to contact Technical Support If you have any comments or encounter any problems with this release, you can post a message on the Discovery Forum, which can be reached from the User Support & Frequently Asked Questions page. The web address for this is: http://discovery.altavista.com/pages/3a.shtml You can also post a direct e-mail to: discovery-support@altavista.com 5.2 What Information to Provide When asking for technical support on a problem, please include the following information: 1. Problem Severity: This indicates how seriously the problem impacts your use of the product. Select one of the following: High = a major part of the product is unusable Medium = a minor feature of the product is unusable, or you have found a way of bypassing the problem Low = minimal impact, or cosmetic problem 2. Product Version Details: o the version of AltaVista Discovery you are running. e.g. V1.1 (Build 539). To determine the version number, right click on the Discovery icon in the Windows taskbar, and select About Discovery.... o The Software Version Numbers of related products, e.g.: Microsoft Exchange Mail Eudora Mail Windows 95 Windows 98 Windows NT Application(s) that produced the file(s) you are searching 3. Problem Description: o The exact wording of any messages that appeared on your screen: - File name where the error occurred - Line number where the error occurred - If there is a Details button on the message dialog on your screen, press it and also record that information. o A description of what you were doing when the problem occurred, e.g. indexing Eudora mail, searching o A description of how you tried to solve the problem, or any workarounds you have developed. 4. Log Files The product generates log files in the directory in which it was installed. By default this directory is: C:\Program Files\AltaVista\Discovery\logs Include all files with names ending in ".LOG" in your problem report. For indexing problems, full indexer logging can be turned on as follows: a. invoke the "Index Management..." menu item, from right-clicking on the Discovery icon in the Windows system tray. This displays the "AltaVista Discovery Indexer" dialog box. b. In the dialog box, * hold down the Control Key and click on the "Advanced" button, * click on the "Select All" button, * click on OK. Now you can index and information will be recorded in pav_pancho.log. (Make sure you exit after you have finished, since the log file could get quite large if you run the indexer multiple times.) 6. UNSUPPORTED FEATURES 6.1 Searching Pegasus Mail folders Included in AltaVista Discovery is support for indexing/searching Pegasus V2.x Mail folders. By default this support is disabled, since only V2.x mail folders have been tested. To enable AltaVista Discovery support for Pegasus Mail, do the following: 1. In Windows Explorer go to the directory that AltaVista Discovery is installed in. By default this is: C:\Program Files\AltaVista\Discovery\avbin 2. Rename the file PAV_MHPEG.DLX to PAV_MHPEG.DLL 3. Double click on the file named MHPeg.REG. This will add the necessary entries to the Windows Registry 4. Stop, then restart Discovery 5. Right click on the Discovery icon in the Windows system tray, and select the "Options..." menu item. This brings up the "AltaVista Discovery Options" page. 6. Click on the "Documents and Mail" tab 7. Select "Pegasus Mail" from the "My Computer" list 8. Click on OK 9. Right click on the Discovery icon in the Windows system tray, and select the "Index Management..." menu item. This brings up the "AltaVista Discovery Indexer" dialog box. 10. Click the "Advanced" button. This brings up the "Advanced indexing" dialog box. 11. Click the "Update" button. Please note that you will have to rename the PAV_MHPEG.DLX file to PAV_MHPEG.DLL after each successful product update. 7. KNOWN PROBLEMS The sections that follow describe known problems in AltaVista Discovery, and where appropriate describe a workaround for the problem. Summary of known problems: 7.1 Installation 7.1.1 Install does not handle multi-user Windows environments 7.1.2 Manual Proxy entry cannot be entered as an Internet address 7.1.3 Can't install Comctl32 update on NT w/o Admin privileges 7.1.4 The installation procedure won't run if Outlook 98 is running 7.2 Indexing 7.2.1 Understanding the indexing of browsed pages 7.2.2 Error in PAV_TXTIO.EXE while indexing 7.2.3 File names not sorted in Document Setup Tab 7.2.4 Text in HTML HREF tags is not indexed 7.2.5 Indexer takes several minutes to stop when "Stop Index" pressed 7.2.6 Indexer appears to loop on large binary files. 7.2.7 Poor system performance on multi-processor systems 7.2.8 Attachments inside attachments aren't indexed 7.2.9 Indexer stops if folders on shared disk become unreachable 7.2.10 Exchange doesn't work if MS Word is the default editor 7.2.11 Exchange .PST files "locked by another process" 7.2.12 Error "Could not install Eudora MAPI system..." 7.2.13 Can't receive MS Mail when Discovery is running 7.2.14 Encrypted Netscape Mail and Outlook Express/Internet Explorer Mail not Indexed 7.2.15 PC may "hang" for several seconds when indexer starts 7.2.16 Office 97 Powerpoint files not indexed correctly 7.2.17 Indexing Outlook Express/Internet Explorer Mail and Netscape Mail 7.2.18 The first page in a browser window may not get automatically indexed 7.2.19 "Indexing Terminated" status when indexing a web site 7.3 AltaVista Discovery Toolbar 7.3.1 Tool buttons do not work on framed pages 7.3.2 Discovery problems with Netscape 3, if both Netscape 3 and Netscape 4 are installed on the same computer. 7.3.3 Maximized browser window cannot be moved 7.4 Searching 7.4.1 Performing an identical search with different options won't work with Internet Explorer 4 7.4.2 No response to Search query from browser 7.4.3 Proxy Authentication not supported 7.4.4 Wild cards don't behave as general regular expression operators 7.4.5 Dial-up Networking Request when Stand-alone PC rebooted 7.4.6 Viewing Exchange Mail is slow the first time 7.4.7 QuickView of mail message with no body displays empty window 7.4.8 Forward/Reply doesn't work on some versions of Exchange Mail 7.4.9 Can't display Eudora mail messages >64KB on Windows95 7.4.10 Some AltaVista International sites may not be completely compatible with Discovery 7.4.11 Clicking on a help link with IE3.0 may load a blank page into the browser 7.4.12 Searching does not work if Microsoft Winsock Proxy Client is installed 7.4.13 Discovery adversely affects Frontpage 98 7.4.14 Cannot search if using Microsoft proxy client 7.5 Automatic Update to new Versions 7.5.1 Discovery does not get automatically updated 7.5.2 Unable to Search or Update Discovery 7.6 Internet Explorer 5 Beta won't install when Discovery is running 7.7 The Hyperbolic Tree 7.7.1 Does not work with IE3 earlier than version IE3.02 7.7.2 Does not work with IE3.02 when offline 7.7.3 The site map doesn't appear 7.1 Installation 7.1.1 Install does not handle multi-user Windows environments When installing, menu items are added to the common program groups instead of the user specific program groups. 7.1.2 Manual Proxy entry cannot be entered as an Internet address When manually specifying a proxy server in the Options Proxy Page, you must specify the NAME of the proxy server (eg. www-proxy.foo.bar.com), not its Internet address (eg 1.23.45.67). If you specify the Internet address of the proxy server, then searches of the "World Wide Web" or "Usenet" will not function correctly. 7.1.3 Can't install Comctl32 update on NT without Admin privileges If you are running a browser other than Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.x, you will require an update to the Comctl32 system files. These files are installed during installation of AltaVista Discovery. However, if you are running Windows NT, you must have Administrator privileges on the system in order for these files to be successfully installed. The toolbar buttons on AltaVista Discovery will not work properly without the Comctl32 update. 7.1.4 The installation procedure won't run if Outlook 98 is running There is a known problem with InstallShield which prevents it from running while certain versions of Outlook 98 are running. To ensure that you don't encounter this problem, exit all Outlook 98 applications before installing Discovery. 7.2 Indexing 7.2.1 Understanding the indexing of browsed pages The default behaviour of AltaVista Discovery is to automatically try to add the contents of web pages to the index database as the web pages are being browsed. Not all browsed content will be indexed. By design: 1. Only pages with MIME types "text/plain" or "text/HTML" will be indexed. 2. Only pages that are cached by the browser will be indexed. - If caching is turned off in the browser, no pages will be indexed. - Some pages request of the browser that they not be cached. If the browser obliges, then these pages will not be cached, regardless of the cache settings in the browser. Such pages will not be indexed. 3. There is a delay between the time a page is browsed and when it will appear in the index. This can be up to one minute. Current limitations: 1. Framed pages are problematic. The content of these pages will not be indexed. 2. Don't expect things to work if you run Netscape 3 and Netscape 4 at the same time. See section 7.3.2 for more information. 7.2.2 Error in PAV_TXTIO.EXE while indexing While indexing, a message may be displayed indicating that PAV_TXTIO.EXE has caused an exception. After a minute, or if you dismiss the message, the indexer will automatically recover from the error and continue to index. This message occurs most often on systems which have Norton Utilities, or First Aid 95, or similar error detection utilities installed. 7.2.3 File names not sorted in Document Setup Tab In the "Documents" tab in the "Documents and Mail" Options window, file names are not sorted into alphabetical order in the right hand pane of the explorer view. File names in the left hand pane are correctly sorted. 7.2.4 Text in HTML HREF tags is not indexed 7.2.5 Indexer takes several minutes to stop when "Stop Index" pressed If you click on the "Stop Indexing" menu item of the Discovery icon in the system tray to stop the indexer, it may take several minutes for the indexer to stop. 7.2.6 Indexer appears to loop on large binary files If you configured the indexer to index binary format files that it does not support (eg Lotus Notes), the indexer may take a long period of time to index the file, and consume large amounts of memory. If you observe this behaviour, change your indexer configuration to not index these file types. Please send requests for files types you wish AltaVista Discovery to support to discovery-support@altavista.com. 7.2.7 Poor system performance on multi-processor systems Some multi-processor systems may exhibit poor overall system performance when the indexer is running. If this occurs, do the following: 1. Start the Task Manager. 2. Click the right mouse button on the AltaVista Discovery Indexer process. 3. Set the Affinity setting to one processor. 7.2.8 Attachments inside attachments aren't indexed in Exchange Mail 7.2.9 Indexer stops if folders on shared disk become unreachable If you store your Exchange Mail folders on a shared disk, and that disk becomes inaccessible while the Indexer is processing Exchange mail, then the indexer may stop. If this happens, restart the indexer after the connection to the shared disk has been re-established. 7.2.10 Exchange doesn't work if MS Word is the default editor If you have MS Word as your default editor in Exchange, you may find that Exchange, MS Word, or your Windows will behave slowly and erratically when the Indexer is running. The only workaround for this problem is to not use MS Word as the default editor in Exchange. 7.2.11 Exchange .PST files "locked by another process" A message will indicate that your Exchange .PST files are "locked or in use by another process", if you attempt to access them from another PC while the AltaVista Indexer is indexing Exchange mail (but not while it is idle or indexing documents or Eudora mail). If you need to access your .PST files from another PC, then you must first stop the indexer from indexing your Exchange mail. To stop the Indexer, click the right mouse button on the Discovery icon in the system tray, and then select the "Stop Indexing" menu item. 7.2.12 Error "Could not install Eudora MAPI system..." Using Eudora Pro, you have the option of utilizing the Eudora MAPI server. This allows you to send mail from Word etc. If you have Eudora configured to use the option "Whenever Eudora is running" (Tools, Options, MAPI), you may receive the following error from Eudora if the Indexer is running: "Could not install Eudora MAPI system because MAPI.dll and/or MAPI32.DLL are in use. Please close any MAPI clients that are running (including Exchange)." This problem will not occur if you choose "Never" for this option in Eudora (Tools, Options, MAPI for User Eudora MAPI server). 7.2.13 Can't receive MS Mail when Discovery is running If you have Microsoft Exchange configured to use MS Mail, you may not be able to receive MS Mail while Discovery is running. If you ensure that Exchange is started BEFORE Discovery is started, then you will be able to receive mail normally. 7.2.14 Encrypted Netscape Mail and Outlook Express/Internet Explorer Mail not indexed If your Netscape Mail folders or Outlook Express/Internet Explorer Mail folders are encrypted in any way, the Indexer will not be able to index them. 7.2.15 PC may "hang" for several seconds when indexer starts On some PCs, all PC operations may lock up for several seconds when the indexer is started. After this period, all operations will resume as normal. 7.2.16 Office 97 Powerpoint files not indexed correctly The indexer may not correctly index Office97 Powerpoint files. The indexer will either ignore the file or fail in PAV_TXTIO.EXE when attempting to index the file. 7.2.17 Indexing Outlook Express/Internet Explorer Mail and Netscape Mail AltaVista Discovery cannot index attachments within Outlook Express and Netscape Mail mailboxes. Only the text contents of messages will be indexed. This means that you can only search for text messages within the main part of a mail message and not any text in the attachments. Furthermore, Discovery has not yet been optimised for indexing Outlook Express and Netscape Mail mailboxes that include attachments. If you have configured Discovery to index these mailboxes (you can check by looking in the Documents and Mail tab in the Options) and you find that indexing takes too long or generates a very large index, then you should consider not indexing these mailboxes. 7.2.18 The first page in a browser window may not get automatically indexed Under certain circumstances, the first page to appear in a browser window may not be automatically indexed when automatic indexing (i.e. Remember browsed pages automatically) of browsed pages is turned on. This occurs for both Netscape and Internet Explorer browsers. This will not affect most users, since the first page they normally browse is their home page. To guarantee that a specific page is indexed, you can set the Indexing of browser pages (in the Discovery Options, General tab) to "Remember only browsed pages that I specify". Then click on the "Remember This" button in the Discovery toolbar while attached to the browser window displaying the page you want indexed. 7.2.19 "Indexing Terminated" status when indexing a web site You may notice that the list of sites indexed in the Index Status dialog shows the status of some sites as "Indexing Terminated". This means that the indexer stopped indexing the site for some reason. Typically, this will mean that indexing of that site timed out, as there is a 4 hour limit for indexing each site. When that time is reached, indexing of that site stops. The next time that site is scheduled to be indexed, it first checks all pages already indexed from that site to see if any have changed. It then picks up where it left off, indexing the pages it didn't get to before. In this way, the entire site will eventually be indexed. 7.3 AltaVista Discovery Toolbar 7.3.1 Tool buttons do not work on framed pages Any feature of the toolbar that needs to interpret the contents of a web page (Find Similar, Summarize, etc) will not work if the web page contains frames. 7.3.2 Discovery problems with Netscape 3, if both Netscape 3 and Netscape 4 are installed on the same computer FindSimilar, Summarize, and automatic indexing won't work with Netscape 3 if Netscape 4 is also installed on the same computer, or was previously installed and the registry entries from Netscape 4 remain. To fix this problem, you must change the registry value: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Netscape/Netscape Communicator/CurrentVersion. from: "4.04 (en)" to: "3.04 " (Including the blank) 7.3.3 Maximized browser window cannot be moved As with all maximized application windows, if a browser window is maximized (via the Maximize command button) and the toolbar is attached to it, you will not be able to move the window. To move it, Restore the browser window to its previous size. 7.4 Searching 7.4.1 Performing an identical search with different options won't work with Internet Explorer 4 When the results of a search are displayed via Internet Explorer 4, these results are cached until the browser is restarted. This means that even if the Search Results options (compact toggles, smart query, number of results) are modified, the previous search results with the original options will be displayed. It is necessary to quit the browser and perform another search to see the change options take effect. 7.4.2 No response to Search query from browser When attempting to do a query you may get one of the following messages: "There was no response. The server could be down or is not responding." "Unable to open http://127.0.0.1:7654/. The item may have been moved to a different address, or it may not be available right now. Please try again later." Both of these messages indicate that Discovery is not responding to the query request. One possible cause of these messages is: One of the components of Discovery is not running. Check the system tray to see if the AltaVista Discovery icon is present. If it is not, then run Discovery (Start->Programs->AltaVista Discovery->AltaVista Discovery). NOTE: AltaVista Discovery does not contact any Internet servers when it is processing local "My Computer" enquiries. The Internet address 127.0.0.1 is a special Internet address that always refers to your local PC, regardless of what its actual Internet address is. If this solution does not resolve your problem, please contact AltaVista Discovery Technical Support as described in Section 5 of this file. 7.4.3 Proxy Authentication not supported If you are using a proxy server that requires username/password authentication, then you will not be able to search outside your Intranet using AltaVista Discovery. 7.4.4 Wild cards don't behave as general regular expression operators. The wildcarded operators "?" and "*" do not operate in the same manner as general regular expression operators. Specifically: - There must be at least three characters preceding any wildcarded character - "*" will only match up to five (5) characters - Two or more consecutive "?" characters will be treated as an "*" 7.4.5 Dial-up Networking Request when Stand-alone PC rebooted When running on a PC that uses Dial-Up Networking as its Internet connection, you may be prompted to connect to your Internet Service Provider when you boot your system. This will only occur if you have your PC configured to "Auto-Dial" whenever Internet access is requested. If this occurs, click on the Cancel button to dismiss the request. After a timeout period AltaVista Discovery will operate correctly. Alternatively you can disable the "Auto-Dial" option in the Internet setting. To do this go into the Control Panel, click on the Internet icon, click on the AutoDial tab. Click on the "Use AutoDial" check box to remove the check. 7.4.6 Viewing Exchange Mail is slow the first time The first time that an Exchange Mail message is selected from the search results list, it may take a long time to be displayed. Subsequent mail messages will be displayed more quickly. 7.4.7 QuickView of mail message with no body displays empty window. 7.4.8 Forward/Reply doesn't work on some versions of Exchange Mail On early versions of Microsoft Exchange Mail client, the "Forward" and "Reply" buttons do not work when viewing search results. An error message is displayed and the operation cancelled. In order for these functions to work, you must have Microsoft Exchange Client Service Pack 2 (or higher) installed. 7.4.9 Can't display Eudora mail messages >64KB on Windows95 Eudora mail messages with body text (excluding attachments) larger than 64Kbytes cannot be displayed on Windows95. The workaround is to view the message in Eudora, or use QuickView if you have it installed. 7.4.10 Some AltaVista International sites may not be completely compatible with Discovery Some International sites may display a query box in the browser window, and hit highlighting may not work. This is due to a lag between the release of Discovery and the conversion of the International search sites to support the AltaVista Discovery interface. These changes will be made by the AltaVista International Search Sites shortly after the release of AltaVista Discovery 7.4.11 Clicking on a help link with IE3.0 may load a blank page into the browser If after searching a local search space with IE3.0, you click on the help link at the bottom of the page, a blank page is loaded into the browser. The help is correctly launched. 7.4.12 Searching does not work if Microsoft Winsock Proxy Client is installed If you have Microsoft Winsock Proxy Client installed, Discovery cannot process search queries. The problem is currently being investigated. 7.4.13 Discovery adversely affects Frontpage 98 If you have Frontpage 98 installed with Discovery, Frontpage 98 behavior could be adversely affected. Discovery uses the IP address and port combination 127.0.0.1:7654 for its local server, so be sure that you don't use that address/port combination for anything else. 7.4.14 Cannot search if using Microsoft proxy client Microsoft Proxy Client is installed from a common network share which is controlled by the Proxy Server software. The Server is responsible for configuring the client install in such a way so that it implements the network policies for the site. When configuring the client install, the administrator has the ability to specify that browsers on client machines will use a PAC file to access the network. If the client software is configured this way, you'll need to have your network administrator add a IP address to the client configuration for Discovery to work. The Proxy Server administrator needs to add the following IP address and Subnet mask to the "Do not use a proxy for the following IP addresses" section of the "Advanced Client Configuration" dialog box (related to Browser Automatic Configuration Script). IP Address: 127.0.0.1 Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.255 Once this change is made to the client configuration, Discovery should work on next reboot. 7.5 Automatic Update to new Versions 7.5.1 Discovery does not get automatically updated It may happen that even though new functionality is available on the Internet to be downloaded, Discovery will not automatically update itself. This problem will happen on machines that have both Direct access AND Modem access to the Internet. Discovery will always attempt to use Modem access if a modem is connected, so if your modem is switched off-line then no Automatic updates will be possible. To update Discovery either switch your Modem on-line or manually update via Discovery's menu selection. 7.5.2 Unable to Search or Update Discovery Under certain circumstances your proxy address may be overwritten by Discovery resulting in an inability to search the Web or perform updates. This only happens to Netscape users who re-install their operating system and fail to configure their Internet Explorer proxy connection details before they use Discovery. Under these circumstances your unconfigured Internet Explorer proxy settings will overwrite Discovery's Netscape proxy settings resulting in an inability to search the Web or update Discovery. If you are able to access the Web using Internet Explorer then this problem will not occur. 7.6 Internet Explorer 5 Beta won't install when Discovery is running There is a known problem with the beta release of Microsoft Internet Explorer, Version 5, which prevents it from installing while AltaVista Discovery is running. To ensure that you don't encounter this problem, exit Discovery before attempting installation. 7.7 The Hyperbolic Tree 7.7.1 Does not work with IE3 earlier than version IE3.02 (4.70.1300) The Hyperbolic Tree is a Java applet. The Java virtual machine shipped with versions of Internet Explorer older than IE3.02 is not powerful enough to run the Hyperbolic Tree applet. If you try to display the Hyperbolic Tree with a version of IE older than IE3.02, you will see the following status message: Error: java.lang.VerifyError We suggest you upgrade your browser to IE3.02 at least. See 7.7.2 first though. 7.7.2 Does not work with IE3.02 when offline Due to a documented bug in the Java virtual machine that ships with IE3.02, you will probably get the following error message when trying to run the Hyperbolic Tree with IE3.02 when offline: exception: com.ms.applet.AppletSecurityException: security. Couldn't connect to with origin from file. The Java virtual machine originally shipped with IE3.02 had build number 1515 and contained the bug that results in this error message. There are several solutions: 1. The recommended and easiest solution is to upgrade to IE4. See http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/ for information on the most recent version. 2. Alternatively, you could switch to Netscape's browser. See http://home.netscape.com/browsers/index.html for information on the most recent version. 3. The last and most difficult option is to upgrade your Java virtual machine. This method is NOT recommended. If you must try it, see http://www.microsoft.com/java/download.htm for more information. Note that the oldest virtual machine that will work is build 1518. You can find out the build number of your virtual machine by typing jview at a DOS prompt. (The version shipped with IE3.02 is 4.79.1515.) 7.7.3 The site map doesn't appear Sometimes the site map will not appear. Instead, you'll see the single node with the label "Loading ..." no matter how long you wait. The "Loading" node should go away once all the tree data is installed but sometimes it doesn't. It's hard to know whether you've waited long enough but there is a simple test. If you see URL's displayed in the status bar when you move the mouse around the "Loading" node (but not on top of it), then the tree has finished loading but has not properly displayed itself. In this case, simply click the "Center the root page" button. If you're using IE3.02 on a Windows 95 machine, then you may have another option. It's possible that by upgrading your java virtual machine the behavior will be fixed. Consider this a last resort. To find out how to upgrade your java virtual machine to version 1518, see paragraph 3 of section 7.7.2. AltaVista Discovery Release Notes Copyright (c) 1998-1999 Compaq Computer Corporation. All rights reserved. AltaVista is a trademark of Compaq Computer Corporation. Outside In Viewer Technology (c) 1992-1996 Inso Corporation. Eudora is a trademark of Qualcomm. Inxight Summarizer, Hyperbolic Tree (TM) for Java (c) 1996-1998 Inxight Software, Inc. All rights reserved. Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft Outlook, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT, MS-DOS, Microsoft Access, Microsoft Exchange Server, Microsoft Windows NT, Excel and PowerPoint are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Netscape is a registered trademark of Netscape Communications Corporation. dBASE is a trademark of Borland International, Inc. Quattro is a registered trademark of Borland International, Inc. WordStar is a registered trademark of MicroPro International Corporation. MANUSCRIPT, and 1-2-3 are registered trademarks of Lotus Development Corporation. Wordperfect is a trademark of Wordperfect Corporation.